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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2018 May 31;15(1):25.
doi: 10.1186/s12970-018-0231-1.

Enhanced 400-m sprint performance in moderately trained participants by a 4-day alkalizing diet: a counterbalanced, randomized controlled trial

Mirjam Limmer  1   2 , Angi Diana Eibl  3 , Petra Platen  3
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Enhanced 400-m sprint performance in moderately trained participants by a 4-day alkalizing diet: a counterbalanced, randomized controlled trial

Mirjam Limmer et al. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. .

Abstract

Background: Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) is an alkalizing agent and its ingestion is used to improve anaerobic performance. However, the influence of alkalizing nutrients on anaerobic exercise performance remains unclear. Therefore, the present study investigated the influence of an alkalizing versus acidizing diet on 400-m sprint performance, blood lactate, blood gas parameters, and urinary pH in moderately trained adults.

Methods: In a randomized crossover design, eleven recreationally active participants (8 men, 3 women) aged 26.0 ± 1.7 years performed one trial under each individual's unmodified diet and subsequently two trials following either 4 days of an alkalizing (BASE) or acidizing (ACID) diet. Trials consisted of 400-m runs at intervals of 1 week on a tartan track in a randomized order.

Results: We found a significantly lower 400-m performance time for the BASE trial (65.8 ± 7.2 s) compared with the ACID trial (67.3 ± 7.1 s; p = 0.026). In addition, responses were significantly higher following the BASE diet for blood lactate (BASE: 16.3 ± 2.7; ACID: 14.4 ± 2.1 mmol/L; p = 0.32) and urinary pH (BASE: 7.0 ± 0.7; ACID: 5.5 ± 0.7; p = 0.001).

Conclusions: We conclude that a short-term alkalizing diet may improve 400-m performance time in moderately trained participants. Additionally, we found higher blood lactate concentrations under the alkalizing diet, suggesting an enhanced blood or muscle buffer capacity. Thus, an alkalizing diet may be an easy and natural way to enhance 400-m sprint performance for athletes without the necessity of taking artificial dietary supplements.

Keywords: Acid-base balance; Anaerobic exercise performance; Blood buffer capacity; Potential renal acid load.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by the ethical committee of the Ruhr-University Bochum. All participants gave written informed consent prior to being enrolled in the study.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Experimental design
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
400 m running time for the acidizing (ACID) and alkalizing (BASE) diet trial. Data points represent individual values (○). Bar charts are means ± SD. See Methods for further details. *p = 0.026 compared with BASE
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Maximal blood lactate values after a 400 m running event for the acidizing (ACID) and alkalizing (BASE) diet trial. Data points represent individual values (○). Bar charts are means ± SD. See Methods for further details. *p = 0.032 compared with BASE
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Urinary pH values after four days of the acidizing (ACID) and alkalizing (BASE) diet. Data points represent individual values (○). Bar charts are means ± SD. See Methods for further details. *p = 0.007 compared with BASE
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